Citywise: Oakland's plan for a third police academy hits a snag

Oakland will have to wait an additional three months before starting its third police academy within the past year.

Desperate to rebuild its threadbare force, the city approved one academy that began in September and another one scheduled to begin in March.

A third academy was tentatively scheduled to begin in June, but police won't be able to start it until September due to logistical issues and a limited number of field training officers, according to Sgt. Christopher Bolton, chief of staff to Chief Howard Jordan.

Oakland is down to 613 sworn officers, from a high of 837 four years ago. The city is already getting assistance from the California Highway Patrol and will soon consider contracting out for Alameda County sheriff deputies to help patrol streets until the new cadets graduate.

Each academy graduates about 40 cadets, but with the department losing about four officers a month to retirements and other agencies, the three academies will only be able to boost staffing to about 671 officers.

Funds for the third academy, estimated to cost $3.3 million, were approved last year, but made contingent on the city first determining its potential loses from the elimination of state-subsidized redevelopment. Council members Libby Schaaf and Larry Reid have proposed removing that condition based higher than anticipated revenue growth this year.

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Oakland to inaugurate three new council members

The City Council will welcome three new members and elect a council president during a morning ceremony on Monday. Newly elected council members to be inaugurated are Lynette Gibson McElhaney, who takes over for Nancy Nadel; Noel Gallo, who takes over for Ignacio De La Fuente and Dan Kalb, who takes over for Jane Brunner.

The three outgoing council members have a combined 52 years on the council. Nadel retired, and Brunner and De La Fuente lost bids for citywide office.

The first and only order of business Monday will be to elect council officers. Councilmember Pat Kernighan is seen as the favorite to become council president.

School board members and City Attorney Barbara Parker will also be sworn in during the ceremony.

Hayward seeks feedback on police

The city is asking residents to fill out an online survey about how well the police department is performing.

The survey "is something we want to do on a regular basis," said City Manager Fran David. "It turned out the police department was ready to go. Every program and every department will put on surveys to help us learn how we're doing and maybe even give advice."

There is a link to the survey, which takes an estimated 20 minutes, on the city's website, www.ci.hayward.ca.us. The survey can be filled out through Jan. 31.

The City Council on Tuesday will consider hiring a San Francisco-based consultant to prepare a community plan and environmental impact report for development of the Warm Springs BART station area.

The council is expected to vote whether to pay Perkins & Will, an international architecture and design firm, as much as $629,750 to do the job. The vast majority of that sum will be covered by grants totaling $576,000, which were awarded by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

By accepting the grants, Fremont is required to provide a matching sum of $144,000. The total budget for preparing the project's community plan and environmental impact report is $720,000.

City officials expect the reports to be completed in about a year.

The documents will focus on plans to create of a mixed-use development featuring commercial and residential uses in an 850-acre area surrounding the proposed Warm Springs/South Fremont BART station, which has not yet been constructed.